The Mjolnir Effect
by Dimensional Phaser
Summary: No Trollhunter had ever lost his Amulet before. The Amulet only returns if you have lost it, it's a different story if it's been stolen. -For the Glory of Merlin, WHERE ARE YOU? Why did the Amulet suddenly return to Jim in Clair and Present Danger if it had been stolen?


So i have several plot bunnies running rampant in my head, this was one of the worst ones. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Jim sat at Blinky's large table, surrounded by books but none of them held his attention.** A certain magical Amulet of Daylight was admirably doing that, thoughts churning about the recent event of Killahead Bridge.

Vendal walked in to discuss the matter of Killahead's relocation but immediately lost the train of though as he saw Jim staring at the Amulet while his head laid on the table. Had it only been a passing glance he would have thought that the Trollhunter was asleep. Sighing, Vendal walked over to Jim, vaguely interested in what could make the human to be thinking so _much_. "What is on your mind Trollhunter?"

Jim looked up and raised his head a hair before answering while staring at the Amulet. "Has the Amulet been known to return to its Trollhunters before?" Sensing he didn't word his question well he continued, "I mean, if they didn't have it, and it was _miles_ away, is it normal to just… _return_ to them, like a boomerang?"

Vendal paused. _This_ is what was bothering the Trollhunter? "It isn't unheard of. Quite common in fact. Many a Trollhunter has learned to use the Amulet's returning power in battle."

"But Blinky said that after the Trollhunter accepted his position that it stopped doing that."

"That's for outright returning. What I speak of is when the Amulet is lost or misplaced. As you've learned, its very beneficial, if not life saving not to have to chase after it in the middle of battle."

Jim sat up, attention solely on Vendal. "But that's what I mean! I didn't _loose_ it, Strickler _stole_ it!"

Vendal raised curious brows, this was a new development. Blinky had conveniently left out _that_ tidbit of information. "It must not have been stolen then or it would not have returned to you."

Jim frowned, "I'd think I'd know of it was stolen. Strickler left a fake one in my house, believe me because for five minutes straight I incanted the snot out of that thing and it didn't even blink! Ask Clair if you want to, she saw it."

Vendal sighed, "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of anything of the sort. What you're saying it did is impossible."

Jim frowned, Then how _did_ it happen? 'Cause I _know_ it happened."

"I'm afraid I don't know."

Jim sighed and plopped his head down on his arms again, "Well thanks anyway, I guess."

Vendal stood and left while Jim continued staring an the Amulet. Making his way through Trollmarket until he found the teal troll he was looking for in the Hero's Forge. "Ah, Draal, I must speak with you."

Draal turned, face worried, "Have I done something wrong? Is the Trollhunter failing in his duties?"

Vendal shook his head, "No, nothing like that. But it does involve him."

"Oh?"

"Yes. There has been an…interesting development that I struggle to believe. I need your help in proving it true or not."

Draal smiled, "Well then, what do I need to do?"

"I need you to steal the Amulet of Daylight."

Draal staggered back and almost dropped his sword, after a minute he regain enough composure to shout, "Have you lost your _mind_?!"

Vendal made a quieting motion, "Jim claims that the Amulet was stolen from him before the Killahead Bridge battle and that it returned to him."

Draal's face scrunched in confusion, "Is that, possible?"

He shook his head, "I do not know. From what we know it shouldn't be, but a Trollhunter has never had his Amulet stolen before."

Draal grinned, "Then it would be my pleasure to help in your, experiment."

* * *

 **Jim** dissipated Daylight and removed the Amulet before dropping it into his school bag. "I think I better call it a night. See you later Blinky

"Until tomorrow Master Jim!"

He turned to wave at Draal who he was sparing with when he collided with him, "Umph! Sorry Draal! I didn't see you move."

Draal smiled, "Quite alright Trollhunter. I will see you tomorrow for another match."

Jim blinked at him, a bit taken back by his lack of reaction or criticism at his careless blindness, but nodded and groaned quietly, "Yay, can't wait."

Jim beat his mother home by five minutes but was too tired to even properly unmake his bed. Throwing his bag on the chair he collapsed on the bed, already asleep.

Barbara woke up that morning to a ruckus coming from Jim's room. Blearily, she opened her eyes and fumbled to grab her phone then holding it almost to her nose to see the time. Six twenty. It was 6:20 and Jim was already up. She opened her eyes further to check the date, _yup, today's Saturday_. She moaned and laid her head down, she didn't have to work today, why was Jim up? Did he know how much noise he was making?

Concerned that this might have some reason to do with his 'scratches from coyotes' she quietly made her way to his room and cracked the door open.

"Where is it, where is it, _where is IT_?!"

She jumped as a bat was carelessly thrown aside, hitting the door, as Jim dug through his closet. Worry overtaking her she pushed the door open, "Jim? Are you alright? What'd you lose?"

Jim looked up, surprised—this not sitting well with Barbara as it was his caught look, "I-uh, aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

"Kinda hard to sleep with how much noise you're making. Jim, darling, what's going on?"

Jim stood and looked around, running both hands through his hair as he looked around, sure signs that whatever was going on was stressing him greatly. "I-I lost the, a-uh, something important. Something _really_ important."

She smiled, trying to lighten the mood, "Well I hope it isn't homework."

Jim laughed dryly, "No, no, not homework. It was a gift from, a friend."

"Toby?"

"No, a different friend."

"You have other friends?"

"Of course I do!" Jim cried.

Her face lit up in recognition, "Oh I see, it's from that girl friend of yours, Clair."

"Wha-no! No, we're just friends." Barbara caught the longing look anyway. "Anyway, I thought I had put it in my bag…"

He hurried out of the room and she followed him as he started checking the bathroom, primarily the medicine cabinet. He opened it but didn't find what he was looking for there, much to his dismay. He closed the door then waited a few seconds then opened it again as if expecting to find it there.

Worry and concern rising, she walked over to Jim and put her hand on his forehead as he continued looking. "Jim, you're scaring me. You've checked that cabinet three times now, whatever you're looking for isn't in there."

Jim mumbled and walked out of the bathroom continuing his search, "That _always_ works. _Why_ didn't that work? Where is _it_?"

"Jim!" Barbara shouted as Jim continued to ignore her.

He waved at her as he checked under the couch, "Yeah, I-I'll get your breakfast made in a minute so you can-"

Barbara pulled him up and looked at him firmly, "This has _nothing_ to do with my breakfast. Jim, I'm worried about _you_. You're acting weird and checking in places you _know_ you've already checked. Are you going insane? Or, are you on drugs?"

Jim paled, "What, no! Mom, I'm fine, I promise. I'm just really worried that I lost it-"

"What's _it?_ "

"An, a really _old_ artifact, an amulet actually from, like, the sixth century or something. A friend gave it to me to keep for him." He explained as he started digging through the couch's cushions.

Barbara sighed, "Oh Jim. I'm sure it'll turn up, I'm going to go back to bed."

Jim waved her off as she left, "Nap well."

*O*

Jim growled as meticulously searched every inch of his walk to his room then dug through his room again. He opened a book from his bag and searched through the pages, hoping it was _somehow_ in there even though he knew it wasn't. In pure frustration he threw the book at the door and fought back tears.

He somehow _lost_ the Amulet. Not only that, but it wasn't coming _back_ to him which could only mean one of two things. One, he was no longer the Trollhunter but that was impractical as he was still very much alive and he didn't know about any other ways to shirk the Amulet—believe him, he tried. Or two, someone had stolen it.

 _But who?_

He hadn't fought anyone from Trollmarket to his house, hadn't even bumped into anyone. Which meant that someone _at_ Trollmarket would have had to have stolen it. _But who_? He hadn't run into anyone on his way out of the forge except Draal…but he wouldn't have stolen it, he was completely about honor and _knew_ he couldn't use the Amulet. So what point would there have been for stealing it?

No, that only left the gnomes. One had done it before, what's to say one didn't do it again?

He growled, bawling his fists up from his utter incompetence at a simple task such as keeping the Amulet safe. That made it how many times that he had his Amulet stolen? Three? Falling back onto his butt, Jim buried his head in his knees. If he couldn't even protect the Amulet, how could they—how could _he_ expect himself to protect trolls and Trollmarket?

Banging his fist against the ground he said in a quiet, strangled voice, "For the Glory of Merlin, _Where_ are You?!"

* * *

 **Vendal** stood at a desk of sorts, shuffling items of value, shifting through aged books and staring at the Amulet of Daylight which Draal had craftily stolen. As he thought back to when Draal had given him the Amulet, he did look a little _too_ proud of stealing it so easily. Though, in its entirety, he couldn't—or wouldn't—blame Jim for its loss. Draal was a trusted ally and even more trusted friend, even if the two of them would deny it to their dying breath and prefer to have a mutual rivalry.

Hours had passed before Vendal even suspected that Jim might notice its absence. As a clock began to tick the early hours of the upper world, Vendal began watching the Amulet closer. Sometime close to six, the Amulet began glowing, a sure sign that the Trollhunter was beginning to notice the of its lack of presence. Over the course of the next half-hour, the Amulet glowed and even vibrated and shook on the table as it sensed its Trollhunter's distress.

Vendal turned back to a book while he examined a rare crystal. A clanking on the table snapped his attention back to the Amulet as it started vibrating violently and its gears and dials turned, slowly at first but speeding up until they were a blur. It started to rise off the table and he grabbed it, only for it to shock his hand and shoot out of the room.

He ran out of the room within the Heartstone and saw the Amulet race over Trollmarket for the doorway to the top world.

Draal saw it shoot overhead like a comet and turned to Vendal with wide eyes as he pointed at the Amulet with his staff and shouted, "Follow that Amulet!"

Without a word or even a motion of acknowledgment, Draal raced through Trollmarket—already far behind the Amulet's speeding trail. By the time he reached the bridge doorway, the small hole that the Amulet had punched through was finished sealing. He immediately grabbed the Hornguazle and opened the doorway, stepping into the thin shadow of the bridge. A small, light blue speck of the Amulet angled out of the sky for the direction of Jim's house.

Draal watched the sky/treetop line where it had been lost from view for another minute before turning back for Trollmarket, unable to follow because of the sunlight.

* * *

 **Jim** laid on the floor in defeat as he stared at his ceiling, pondering how he should ask Blinky or, heaven forbid, Vendal or Draal for help in locating and reacquiring the Amulet. The two-way radio that always sat on his desk cackled with static before Toby's slightly distorted voice echoed through, "Hey, Jimbo, what's up? Aaarrrgghh! said he saw you tearing up your room like a gnome at a picnic."

Jim sighed, "I-I lost the Amulet. Actually, I think it was stolen."

Toby gasped, "What? When!?"

"I'm not sure. Probably some dumb gnome at Trollmarket…"

"Open window." Aaarrrgghh! said suddenly.

"What?" Jim asked, "Why?"

"Just open."

Jim shrugged and opened the window, a cool spring breeze blowing in. Toby waved at him and he waved back, though his confusion was evident.

Toby asked something as he leaned out his own window but Jim couldn't hear what it was, nor Aaarrrgghh!'s answer. He grabbed the radio, "What's going on Tobes?"

Toby answered but was still looking up at something in the sky, "There's just this weird blue star…and I think it's getting closer."

"What?" Jim leaned out his own window and saw the star that Toby was pointing at, and it did indeed look like it was coming closer. With jolt of shock and surprise, Jim realized what it was just before he ducked back into his room and for the Amulet to hit him in the stomach as it entered the room as well—nocking him back a bit with a grunt.

Toby's voice came in again, sounding worried, "Jim, Jim?! Are you ok? What is it?"

Jim didn't hear the radio nor anything else as he stared at the Amulet, "How did you…why did you?"

A minute later Toby was running into his room, out of breath, "Jim! What, what happened?!"

Jim looked up, confused. "Toby, what are you doing here?"

"What, what am I doing here?" He asked, still trying to catch his breath, "You ducked into your room just before the light thing dove in after you. What is it? Is it an alien?! Why didn't you answer me when I radioed you?"

Jim looked sheepish, "Oh, sorry Tobes, didn't mean to worry you, I just, didn't hear you I guess. But no, it's not an alien, it's the Amulet."

"What?"

Jim held up the Amulet as it glowed and pulsed, almost as if it was content or pleased. "I-I don't know. But it came back!"

"So—" Toby drawled out, "maybe it wasn't stolen, you just lost it."

Jim looked at him flatly, "I _know_ I didn't lose it. Besides, if I had lost it, it would have reappeared somewhere annoying like the medicine cabinet or my face if I lost it somewhere really stupid and it got annoyed."

Toby smirked, "Jim, I don't think it has emotions."

Jim frowned as he looked at the Amulet, "Yeah, but…I don't know. You don't know, don't _feel_ this thing like I do. If it's not sentient enough to have emotion, its darn close I think."

"So what?" Toby asked as they walked downstairs, "It's like my Nana's GPS when she takes a wrong rout and it get snarky?"

Jim laughed at the simplification of it, "Yeah, something like that."

*O*

They managed to get back to Trollmarket with Aaarrrgghh! after painstakingly concealing him as they trekked through the woods. When they entered Trollmarket they found it in a state of borderline chaos. As soon as Jim stepped foot into clear sight a troll cried out, "He's still alive!"

Jim blinked and looked at Toby and Aaarrrgghh! "Was I dying?"

Both shrugged and held the same look of confusion.

Vendal walked through the crowed with Draal, pushing them back as Vendal gestured them forward, "Come Trollhunter, I believe we have something we need to discuss."

Jim paled a bit as he followed the elderly troll, "Ok, I swear, whatever it is you think I did, I didn't do it! You can ask Toby and Aaarrrgghh!, they were with me this morning."

Vendal looked down at him, "Actually, I _know_ you did it. Maybe they can help clear up _how_ you did it."

Jim stopped, confused. _How I did it? How I did what?_ They followed him to the Heartstone and to his study room before anyone said anything more. "Jim, let me see the Amulet of Daylight."

Jim gave Vendal the Amulet with more than a little confusion as he inspected the magical device, Draal looking at it closely as well. Several minutes of tense silence passed before Vendal finally asked, "Jim, do you know what happened to the Amulet last night?"

Jim looked down, still ashamed at his failing to notice its absence, "Yeah, a gnome stole it."

Draal smiled, laughed actually, "No Trollhunter, _I_ stole it."

Jim blanched, "You, what? _Why_?!"

Vendal spoke, "To prove a theory. You're theory actually, that the Amulet returned to you after it was _stolen_. It appears that you were correct, though if I may have the indulgence of asking, _how_ did you do it?"

Jim stared at the Amulet that rested in his hand again, "I-I don't know."

Vendal straightened, "Recount to me what you did this morning, _everything_."

"Well, I woke up then got ready to come here since it's a Saturday."

Vendal nodded, "Yes, then?"

"Well, then I couldn't find the Amulet. I searched my entire room and half the house-"

"More like tore up you room." Toby cut in, "I don't think I've ever seen the boys locker room as messy."

Jim's cheeks reddened a bit, "I wanted to make sure I checked everywhere for it. But after I realized that it was stolen, well, I kinda gave up looking for it."

Vendal frowned, that didn't seem right _at all_. There _had_ to be something more. "Is there anything, _anything_ at all, no matter how trivial, that you did the same this morning as well as the first night?"

Jim's face scrunched in thought before he shrugged, "Not that I can think of…"

"Yes?"

"Well, I—that night I yelled in frustration and said, I think, 'For the Glory of Daylight, Where are You?'"

"And this morning?" Vendal pressed.

"I said the same thing, though I didn't yell it."

Vendal's eyes lit up, "Could it really be so simple?"

Jim looked at him with hopeful and disbelieving eyes, "You really think that, _that's_ what made it return?"

Vendal nodded, "As Blinkious has said, no Trollhunter has lost, or more accurately—had his Amulet _stolen,_ before. Therefore, it isn't illogical to think so."

Draal suddenly grabbed the Amulet from Jim's hands and possessively held it away from the Trollhunter. Jim cried indignantly as he was being easily held back, "What are you _doing_!?"

Draal smirked, "Make it return to you."

"WHAT?!"

Vendal nodded, "Say your incantation to make it return."

Jim stepped back and sighed, "For the Glory of Merlin, Where are You?"

The Amulet glowed and shook again, shocking Draal's hand to make him release it as it hurried back to Jim, nestling safely in both his hands.

Draal starred, "I see it but I still don't believe it."

Aaarrrgghh! grinned, "Neat. New trick."

Jim laughed, "Yeah, that could come in handy."

Toby grinned, laughing, "Dude, you have, like, a real life Mjolnir! That's awesome sauce! Oh, think about it, now no matter were you stick it or lose it or have it stolen you can get it back!"

Jim placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I guess it does have a kind of Mjolnir effect doesn't it?"

* * *

If you liked leave your thoughts! 'Till next story!


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